Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, in the wake of the flap over the USS John S. McCain during President Donald Trump’s visit to Japan, reasserted on Friday the long-standing mandate to shield the military from politics.
"Our business is to run military operations and not to become politicized … Our job is to run the military,” Shanahan during a news conference in Singapore.
He said he hasn’t discussed the dust-up over the McCain destroyer with the White House or with top military commanders in the Pacific, explaining he’s leaving it to his chief of staff to check out.
Shanahan has directed Chief of Staff Eric Chewning “to look into the matter, and that’s different than saying ‘launch a formal investigation,’” the acting Defense secretary said.
His comments followed a report in The Wall Street Journal that the White House Military Office requested the McCain be kept “out of sight” during a presidential visit to Japan over the long Memorial Day holiday — instructions the Navy began to follow but then backed off from.
Shanahan has said he had no knowledge of the affair until he read about it in the press.
“I'll wait until I get a full explanation of the facts before I pass judgment on the situation,” Shanahan said.
Chewning will be talking to top Navy officers in the Pacific and in Washington, Shanahan said, adding his chief of staff had already searched the emails received by Shanahan’s own “front office” to see if any messages came in relating to preventing Trump from seeing the McCain.
“They did a quick — and I would say a not exhaustive look — and we received none,” Shanahan said.
Some retired military officials have called for a more formal inquiry by the Pentagon’s inspector general.
“I would not have moved the ship, I would not have given that direction, so I’ll just wait to see what’s reported back,” Shanahan said of Chewning’s inquiry.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine